A bill to allow terminally ill Scots to end their lives has been tabled in the country’s Parliament, with the majority of the population in favor of the practice, according to a poll.
If the bill is passed then Scotland will join the list of countries which includes Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Austria and Ecuador and where euthanasia is allowed under certain conditions.
The Medically Assisted Suicide for Terminally Ill Adults Bill would give mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness the right to end their own lives.
The law will contain safeguards such as independent evaluation by two doctors and a 14-day cooling-off period.
Applicants will also be required to have lived in Scotland for at least one year.
Applicants must self-administer the substance that will end their life.
The plan was introduced by Liam MacArthur, a Liberal Democrat MP in the Scottish Parliament, who this week said he was “absolutely confident” the bill would pass because there was growing popular support for the practice.
A poll by campaign group Dignity in Dying, which is in favor of the legislation, found that more than three-quarters of Scots support the practice.
Opponents of the legislation argue that the poll does not reflect the change in opinion when the dangers of the practice are highlighted.
The relevant vote in the Scottish Parliament is expected to take place in several months.
The semi-autonomous Scottish government, which has control over areas such as health care, education and to some extent taxation, has in the past diverged in policy from the other three countries of the United Kingdom: England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Britain’s Labor leader Keir Starmer, who according to opinion polls will be the next prime minister, has expressed his desire to legalize euthanasia after the next election.
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